CHAPTER XXXIX.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1622, 25 November 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Tho dinner at M'Phun's passed off without j anything of special note. Miss M'Crankie appeared somewhat depressed by the blow which her i'aith had received from the backsliding of the Keverond Samuel; the host was quietly hospitablfc as usual; and Mucklebody, no way toned down by his narrow escape from destruction, made his appearance fn the same excellent spirits and the same wonderful coat as before. Truly grateful to Shuter he was, nevertheless, and, though he made his preserver uncomfortable by frequent facetious references to the accident, it was evident that his feelings on the subject were deeper than he wished them to appear. " There was nane but yersel'," he said to Shuter, " wad pu the feckless auld Scot's body ail the line, an' Am glad for yere sake, laddie, he's no' the puir fallow .they dootless thocht him I" "No more about it, my dear sir," said Shuler. -"-iviakea me uncomfortable 1 Keally does ! Let us have a song." " Ay, all gi'e ye a sang, if ye wush, but for a' that a maun repeat that its prood ye ought tae , be, an' no uncomfortable ; an' while Saunders Mueklebody has a bodle in the warld, its na his am as mucklc as its Shairpc Shuter's !" Tho improvement in the weather had been but temporary, ,iind when our little party broke up, the storm was raging with greater fury than ever. " This is somethink awful," said the driver of our hansom, as Walter and I stepped into it. " It's as much as I can do to keep this old hoss from boltin', an' he ought to know what Australian lighlnin' is, too, by this time I" My thoughts now reverted to the Count's gardener, and, as well as I could, for the deafening and incessant thunder, I made Walter acquainted with my apprehensions. "By Jove !" he exclaimed, "if^you think there's any danger we'll drive right out there and have a look at the place." Our course was accordingly altered, and after an hour's driving in alternate pitchy darkness and ghastly illumination, we found ourselves nearing Cintra. Bain was again beginning to fall, and the wind, which had sprung up strong from the southward, howled and whistled through the surrounding trees, as we turned into the lane which, as has been said, formed a loop round the entire premises. It was probably this sound of the trees which prevented our" approach from being heard by a man who was posted at the back entrance. A flash of lightning revealed him, standing alone under the wall, but, catching sight of the cab at the same moment, he gave a shrill whistle and made off. " Never mind him !" |jl said, catching Walter by the arm as he was preparing to give chase. "To the house — to the house with all speed !" Even as I spoke the report of a pistol came sharply to us throngh the howling of the storm, and, mounting on the roof of the cab, we reached the top of the wall and scrambled down inside as best we could. "This wayl" I said, as, rushing swiftly through the back offices, I opened a small gate that led to the shrubbery, and we found ourselves beneath the study window. In the haste and darkness I came suddenly, and violently against some object which stood in the way; but just theTijthe lightning flashed and. showed us a ladder, while at the same instant the loud whistle of another sentinel sounded from the bushes close by. ' Alarmed t ,by, the signal, a man came' out of the window above us, and hastily descended the ladder, to be seized by us the moment he came within, reach. Extraordinary strength, however, he possessed, for, though , Walter, and myself were anything but > weak men, we found our' united exertions barely 'sufficient to hold, him. There was a short, fierce, struggle^ on the wet ground,, Once the lightning- shone out and showed, us that t our,, prisoner was masked ; again it flashed— the- 'mask ■ had fallen .off, and the face Was Derricks 1 V ■ • "It tsyoUj.^hen, you, scoundrel 1" I- said,-* between my, clenched, teetho.as I exerted fall, my -strength to pin^Mm Jft|the;earth,,Jj'ut at i that instant' a woman's c^came , froni* ttie open window abpye us. ! MMwg^l^aola's voice^ and.jfof getting ejerytliinose, Walter , let go, ( 'his hold and sprang; up 'itfie|Jaclder.V I, ielt ttie burglar lift me- from* tlie grouncT Hke^ taVchild— there ,was a'craUhr- arid J 'l/remeii-" 'bpre'dio'more till'l fourid 1 myself -lying o*%\ < sofa^m>j& ff e w/ fa ,engaged in*bin^g"upj^ ius>in. a a, group' stood.'all'vfcne^silarm'ed' irfmatesfc k,the;hlu§e.#i%^M&f>^^^^|^»l

Hutu. — Walter, Baldovino, the cabman, aud three quaking maidservants. " No . Walter and the cabman chased them for some distance, but the night was too wild to give any chance of tracing them." " How did I come by this ?" I said, sitting up on the sofa and touching my head. " I suppose the robber struck me with some instrument." " I don't think so. From the position in which we found you, I suspect he gave you a violent fall, and brought your head against the wall of the house. But we must get you to bod, and we can talk matters over to-morrow. Addison here will report the matter to the police, and come out to breakfast with us in the morning," and the Count clasped Walter's hand with a warmth which told me that the stirring events of the night had materially altered the position of affairs between them. Paola gazed at tliem with something like a tear in her proud eye, and the little Quakeress looked on with a quiet primness which was proof against the strangeness of the scene, as well as against a certain incompleteness of costume on her own part. "What are you going to do about the safety of the house for the remainder of the night ?" I asked the Count, " The house is safe enough now, I take it," he said ; " but I shall sit up in the study till morning." " I wish you'd let me keep you company," I said. " I feel too much excited to sleep." " You would be better in bed, nevertheless ; but you can come with me if you like. Now, get to bed, Paola — Ruth — everybody !" and, as soon as Walter and the cabman had gone, the Count took my arm in his, and led the way to the study. The room presented a scene of great confusion. The antique cabinet iiad been broken open, and a large portion of its valuable contents removed, but a well-filled sack upon the floor showed that the burglars had been obliged to leave their booty behind them. The table was overthrown, and the floor strewn with the fragments of a large Dresden vase, which had stood on it; a statuette' of Diana had been decapitated by its fall from a bracket near the window, and between the divided head and trunk lay a revolver, which I recognised as the Count's. 11 There was a shot fired," I said, picking up the pistol, and finding that one chamber had been discharged — "and, ah!— here is blood on the floor." " Yes ; sit down, and I will tell you all I know," said the Count, placing a decanter and glass beside me. "Take some wine if you should feel any faintness, and, in the meantime, a Manilla wont hurt you. It was Paola who fired that shot," he went on, when we had lighted our cheroots ; " and, what is more, she brought down her man ! But, to begin at the beginning; I had sat up till nearly two o'clock, writing, and must have slept soundly after going to bed, for I heard nothing of the robbers until the report of the pistol awoke me. Paola, however, it seems, had heard a noise in the study, and, cautiously leaving her room, which is on the same floor, she glided up to the door, and saw two men filling a sack with the contents of the cabinet by the light of a dark lantern. Swiftly and noisele&sly she made her way to my dress-ing-room, and, taking the revolver from a drawer, returned to the study door, and fired through the chink at the man nearest her. Why she did not first arouse me I do not exactly understand ; perhaps she was influenced by a generous fear for her father's safety, or perhaps she acted at the bidding of the impulsive courage which is a part of her character. -Like the. courage of women in general, however, it failed her at, the critical "instant ;, the moment she had .filled the' shot she seemed, she told me, to lose' all power of motion, and 'stood gazing helplessly into the room, until the man, who had been only slightly wounded, sprang to his feet again, and dragged her in. lie seemed to be mad with pain and fury, and, not noticing the pistol, which she had let fall, had drawn a sheath-knife upon her, when his comrade, who was in the act of getting out of the window with the plunder, jumped back, and struck the weapon out of his hand. "Did your daughter recognise the other man ?" 1 asked. " No ; they both wore masks." " Ah, I had forgotten : go on please." " Well, just then, there came a loud whistle from below, and flinging down the sack, the last-mentioned robber disappeared through the window ; but the other ruffian, blind apparently to every consideration but revenge, picked up the knife, and again attacked Paola. Ignorant of the direction from which the report of the pistol had come, I hSd lost some time in finding the place, and only reached the study, in time to see Walter Addison spring through the window, and knock over the burglar, in the very act of drawing back his arm for a stab." The Count stopped ; he was undemonstrative to a degree, but the recollection of his daughter's imminent peril, choked his utterance for a few moments. " Perhaps the fellow only meant to frighten her," I said. "No 1" was the reply. " The light of the lantern fell full upon his face, and showed murder written there unmistakably. I owe Addison my daughter's life, beyond a doubt ! But the man, as he rolled upon the floor, extinguished the light, and, as i rushed forward, Walter seized upon me in the darkness. Instantly discovering his mistake, however, he followed the burglar through the window, and, in company with the cabman, gave chase to him through the grounds, but the storm and darkness favoured the rascal's escape, and they soon lost all trace of him. " Did Derrick give you notice, last night, that he was going to leave your employment ?" I asked. " Yes ; he did," said the Count, surprised at the change of subject.- "Why do you ask?" " Because Derrick was the other .burglar," I answered, and went on, much to my listener's astonishment, to tell him the story of my suspicions of the evening before, and how they had led me to return to Cintra, instead of stopping in town as I had intended. • " I thank you sincerely for your thoughtfulness," said the Count, warmly grasping my hand when I had finished. " This then accounts for- Addisons opportune on the scene." " Pardon the question, at such a time," I said, after a few moments of silence; "but you know -I am interested in Walter Addisons happiness, and that,' happiness is bound-up in your daughter. Will this occurrence make any difference in his position with regard,tp,her?'\ : "It , will make just this difference," returned the XJount, "slowly-V that he shall have my 'permission tbimarry Paola as soon as she. will 'haVeiam 1 Pp.not mistake.me ;, = my, qld y ob- , jections to the'match remain in, full force, but ■ everyibting must give, wayjo, the consideration,, that*, Jb'ut .fog ysa«and',^alter;,l should, in' all 'prd^abilityi.have' had 'no, daughter, at iall- ; by • this jtime." * ;/.Au ' \ r<.<i<s "Vj ;^ { l £>qn*jt fprgetf Count, that Derricki preyen-y tedhisjjonmide fr'pm, using, .the! knife in 'the tf^tityaJMQCQl" /,;%/> '> t SS 1 *!1! 1 - H '" V ■ -.' 'f^'/r^^bjnp'tijfcjrget'dt,', and .if £ he should be, fcapturedj) the>|acti shall^bejdulyi broughtVf pr-> qvarSiiinlbj^f ayour.i >Ttiefe is the^dawn J>reak 7 ) }iag'^'B^illffiofyg6itp)hei;but Jtadyi^eyouitp^

my wordd ! I said thai- I would not juovidu ■Walter with an income, and he said that he would not accept one from me. JBe it so but let them marry, and there is nothing to prevent me from bestowing what I please upon my daughter, "is there? "